The Inspiring Souls project has been spearheaded by Pat Graham, a veritable tour-de-force whose drive and enthusiasm for all things Carleton Rode began when she and her late husband, Don, moved to farm in the village in the mid-1960s. Since that time, she has acquired a vast store of knowledge about the built environment and the families who lived here, as well giving a home to all manner of artefacts acquired during a lifetime of farming. Pat is Chair of the Carleton Rode History Group and, amongst other publications, has published a book of photographs and postcards – Faces and Places Around Carleton Rode – and has several more pamphlets in the pipeline.
Having secured a substantial National Heritage Lottery Fund in 2019 with the invaluable help of Maya Ribbands (both to preserve the memory of those who died during the First World War and also to tell the stories of those who survived), Pat set about bringing together a core group of people to fulfil the aims of the project; namely, to engage with a wide range of local organisations including the primary school (credit to Sally Hatcher) and youth groups (special thanks to Pauline Crompton-Moore and the Guides), to carry out the necessary research, to host a range of events to publicise Inspiring Souls – and to build a website to reach a worldwide audience, tapping into the growing popularity of family history research. The project also included the commissioning of a new Roll of Honour board featuring the names of all the men – and women – who served their country, on permanent display in All Saints’ Church, together with a bespoke oak Memorial Cabinet housing printed copies of the website biographies.
Penny Shacklock and Simon Davies, local residents with a background in teaching, had already spent many years researching the men who had died during the Great War, culminating in a centenary exhibition and concert held in the village in 2014. Although there were only three families still living locally with direct connections to those names on the War Memorial – Bennington, Burt, Colman – there were many more men who survived and returned to Carleton Rode. Some of those families brought along photographs of their relatives to the exhibition – and told intriguing tales of life in the village in the inter-war years. This was to be the focus of the new research – to cover all those known to have been living in (or closely connected to) Carleton Rode during the 1914-1919 period as many were not demobbed for several months following the Armistice. It was also to include the women who volunteered for the British Red Cross VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and whose record cards are now available online.
The existing Roll of Honour board in Church consisted of a list of names (and sometimes regiments) and was known to be a copy of an original that no longer existed – which may explain why there were many omissions and sometimes errors (e.g. a survivor listed as having been killed, and vice versa). By accessing the plethora of online sources such as the National Archives (especially the Absent Voter Lists of 1918/19/20), local Record Offices, Church records, School Log books, genealogical sites, British Newspaper Archive and Local Recall (EDP) – to name but a few – it has been possible to begin this immense task. Several survivor’s biographies have now been published on the site – most are the result of contacts made through the website and there are now families across the UK who are planning to visit the village soon.
The new Roll of Honour board featuring 129 names – including 24 men who died and 7 women who volunteered for the VAD – and the Memorial Cabinet beneath it were dedicated in November 2021. The oak cabinet was designed and made by Mr P R Love – universally known as Reg Love.
Reg has lived in the village for most of his married life and has been making beautiful and useful things for All Saints’ Church since 1958 when he was first approached by the then Churchwarden, Charlie Wilson, to make a Psalm Board to match the existing Hymn Board. At the time, Reg was courting local farmer’s daughter, Nancy Brown (soon to be Love), and as a skilled ecclesiastical joiner by trade, he was the obvious choice for such a commission. It was to be the first of many projects over the next sixty plus years – and this latest handsome cabinet has been expertly made to match existing church furnishings. Looking around the church, Reg’s initials, ‘PRL’, can be found carved on several items – notably the separate roundels in the rail at the top of the rood screen. To quote Christopher Wren, ”Si monumentum requiris circumspice”!
Alongside all these permanent features for the Church, Reg has always been at the forefront of efforts to keep the Church open and accessible to all. His practical skills have supported village fetes and all kinds of exhibitions in Church, as well as myriad fundraising activities.
The project is also fortunate that another talented designer, this time one who builds and maintains the website, is local resident Chris Furness. He works closely with the researchers to craft each page so that it performs equally well on laptop, tablet or mobile.
Throughout the project, Pat Graham and Sue Jordan, have ably managed the funding and kept everything on track. Without them, and the assistance of many villagers and parishioners, the Inspiring Souls project would not have been successful.
So please take this opportunity to read the stories and pay tribute to both the War Dead and the Survivors from Carleton Rode, whilst examining the impact the war had on their families and the village community
Finally, new discoveries about the village and its inhabitants frequently come to light – please do get in touch if you have stories that you would like to share.